A strong relationship built on trust, technical expertise and a willingness to work collaboratively has resulted in a £250,000 order for healthcare products at Walsall Manor Hospital.
The project began with the client proactively approaching Commercial Specification Manager Kyle Davies to request a comprehensive audit of the hospital’s existing facilities.
“This success was built entirely on a strong, longstanding relationship with both Skanska Facilities Management and the Walsall Manor Estates team,” said Kyle.
“Over the years, we’ve built up a brilliant partnership where we consistently lean on each other’s knowledge and technical expertise.”
Skanska asked Kyle to undertake a two-to-three-day ward walkaround, inspecting and evaluating the equipment already in place and developing a detailed refurbishment specification schedule. The aim was to ensure the hospital’s facilities met its clinical requirements, as well as the relevant HTM and HBN standards.
The resulting audit identified opportunities for a wide range of Armitage Shanks products to be incorporated into the hospital’s updated master specification, including products from the Contour and Markwik ranges. But one product in particular demonstrated the value of the relationship: the Markwik 21+ shower panel.
Several months before the audit, Kyle had secured a meeting with Skanska, the Estates Manager and the Water Safety Manager to introduce our healthcare shower panels. The presentation was well received and a single unit was installed for a trial, which proved a success.
That ultimately led to more than 60 Markwik 21+ shower panels being specified and signed off as part of the refurbishment works. The product is now set to become Walsall Manor’s go-to solution as it has been incorporated into the Trust’s official specification for future projects.
Kyle said: “Thanks to the deep-dive audit, we managed to get a fantastic mix of our Contour and Markwik product ranges specified and written into the hospital’s updated master spec.
“It’s also a brilliant outcome to secure such a big order for a relatively new-to-market product like the Markwik 21+ shower panels.”